The number of antisemitic crimes in North Rhine-Westphalia has fallen in the past year. It fell by 142 to 331, as Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the NRW antisemitism commissioner, announced at the presentation of her annual report on Thursday. This is a good trend, but no reason to give the all-clear. Because the extent of hatred and violence seems to be increasing, as the shots at the former rabbi’s house of the old synagogue in Essen show.
For Jews in Germany, confrontation with antisemitism is part of their everyday life, said Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. Incidents below the criminal liability limit should be looked at and reacted to more actively. “An important factor here is hatred and hate speech on the Internet.” Because through acts or statements that do not fall under the criminal law, “the way for more serious and violent cases is prepared or normalized”.
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger also reported on successes in the fight against antisemitism. More and more people would be reached with information about the various forms of antisemitism and encouraged to get involved – for example in schools. A study commissioned last year is helping to shed light on the dark field, as is the antisemitism reporting office (RIAS NRW) launched in the state in 2022. In addition, 22 antisemitism officers at the general public prosecutor’s office and public prosecutor’s office took up their work last year.
